[HANASHIR:4203] Re: Noach

[Prezbimbam <Prezbimbam...>]

Since there is this "thread" on Noach, I thought I would share that my son, 
Jason, became Bar Mitzvah last Friday night amidst Hurrican Irene (West Palm 
Beach, Temple Judea, Rabbi Joel Levine, Cantor Rita Shore). The bima lights, 
air conditioning, etc. were off due to a phased power outage. We had lights 
in parts of the sanctuary, and candles lit as they flickered, just in case. 
Our small group of family who had flown in were there, plus 15 close friends. 
We did the entire service. Jason is an honor student, and had very long 
portions for Torah, Maftir, and Haftorah, plus an intense D'var Torah. None 
of his classmates were there, and the congregation who saw him grow up on the 
bima (I'm a past president) were not able to venture out. As we pulled into 
the temple we heard on the radio that all Palm Beach and most of Broward and 
Dade temples were not having services. It brought a very basic point to the 
entire Bar Mitzvah - the student owns his/her accomplishment. It's not just 
who is present to witness this life cycle event, but their own accomplishment 
for themselves. He was awesome. He had a wonderful time on the bima, with a 
sense of humor and incredible composure each time the lights flickered. He is 
also repeating it - he's thrilled - on November 19th for those friends and 
family and congregants that were not able to attend. We left after 10 p.m. 
when the storm was almost making a direct hit on our area, and it took some 
people 2-3 hours to get home (usually a 1/2 max drive). The power was out 
everywhere. It finally came on during Saturday, there really was a rainbow 
after a brief shower, and we partied following Havdalah at my home. Thanks 
for allowing me to "share" this with all of you - there really is "A Rainbow 
Blessing." 
B'Shalom, Meredith Hirschberg (Wellington, FL)
** I also advised both my children that when their children become Bar/Bat 
Mitzvah, to review the portion very carefully for any type of negative 
weather....and choose another date!!!!**

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